


\v 



i^ 



oUyny^<^ 



K 




t fully presented to 




Appreciation 



HE Governor of California has 
had, and will have many pleasant 
duties to perform. But none of 
them has been and none of them 
will be quite so pleasant as that 
which he is this evening called 
upon to perform, viz.: express 
the high regard in which this 
evening's honored guest is held by the people of this 
state. 

"Working quietly and modestly among his trees 
and vines our friend Burbank has worked what, to 
our lay minds, appear almost like miracles. He has 
changed the characters and appearance of fruits and 
flowers, turned pigmies into giants, sweetened the bit- 
ter and the sour, transformed noxious weeds into valu- 
able plants and verily set the seal of his approval upon 
much that to him and us seems wrong in Nature's 
handiwork. 

"For us he has done much; and to him the whole 
world is indebted; we marvel at the skill with which 
he has worked his many miracles. 

"Burbank, like Columbus, has shown us the way 
to new continents, new forms of life, new sources of 
wealth, and we, following in his footsteps, will profit 
by and from his genius." 

GEORGE C. PARDEE, 
Governor of California. 
At a banquet given by the California State Board 
of Trade in honor of Luther Burbank, September 14th, 
1905-- 




COPYRIGHT 1911, JOHN WHITSON, CHICAGO 

:dition of this brochure is 
limited to 1000 copies 



OSCAR E. BINNER CO. 

SIXTH FLOOR AMERICAN TRUST BLDG. 

CH ICAGO 



S)C!.A2S3i22 



Index 



Luther Burbank — Portrait 4 

Introductory 5 

Shasta Daisy 6 

Royal Walnut 8 

Burbank Pears 10 

The Motive— by Luther Burbank 12 

View 14 

Luther Burbank — Historical 15 

Royal Black Walnut 16 

Thornless Blackberry 18 

Burbank Rose 20 

List of Publications 23 

Facsimile Opinions 24 

Oscar E. Binner— Portrait 25 

Oscar E. Binner — Personal 25 

Reference by Permission 27 

Facsimile Opinions 28 

Burbank Cherry 30 

Some Subjects of the Books 31 

White Blackberry 32 

Publishers' Information 33 

Cobless Corn 34 

Cactus Fruit 36 




Introductory 

UTHER BURBANK, recog- 
nized as the world's greatest 
orginator of valuable plant life 
of any age, has exerted an 
unique influence by his discov- 
eries and products, which he 
has freely given to the world 
of commerce and beauty. No 
inventor, discoverer or scientist of this age has 
benefited humanity as a whole to the same extent 
as Luther Burbank; scientific researches serve the 
purpose of science; electrical and industrial inven- 
tions primarily enrich the capitalists, and only in- 
directly the public; Luther Burbank's discoveries 
are not patented or exploited for the benefit of capital, 
but given to the world freely, quietly and unosten- 
tatiously, have produced more wealth direct to the 
public than most of the great inventions, and have 
directly increased the profits of every individual en- 
gaged or interested in the pursuit of land-culture in 
every form. 

Benefits To Humanity 

Commercial 

It is impossible to even estimate the possibilities 
and wealth created by Burbank's discoveries. A 
faint idea may be gathered from the following: one 
kernel added to each head of corn, wheat, oats, barley, 
grown in the United States will produce without cost 
or effort the following number of extra bushels : 

Barley 1,500,000 Wheat .... 15,000,000 

Corn 5,200,000 Oats 20,000,000 

One tuber added to each potato plant produces 
21,000,000 extra bushels for each crop. 

According to an official statement of the United 
States Department of Agriculture at Washington 
the Burbank potato alone is adding seventeen million 




BURBANK'S SHASTA DAISY. Natural Size and Color. 



California 

" Burbank has enriched the world with thousands of fruits and flowers, which 
but for him would have existed among the conceivable possibilities of creation. He 
has helped mankind by increasing enormously the economic value of plant life." 

—David Starr Jordan, President Stanford University. 
6 



C ommercial Benefits — continued 



dollars a year to the agricultural productivity of this 
country. 

Every cent added to the pound value of the Prune 
crop by improving its quality means an additional 
revenue of two million dollars a year to the growers 
of California alone. Every pound of prunes added 
to each tree means an additional million dollars a year 
to the one State. The commercial value of Burbank's 
Thornless Cactus and Royal Black Walnut is so im- 
mense and of such voluminous importance to the 
United States and foreign nations, that mere figures, 
without analysis, would seem preposterous, and as this 
space is limited, the information is published in a 
separate pamphlet entitled "Rejuvenation of Desert 
and Forest," mailed free on request. 

Moral Benefits 

The moral value of Luther Burbank's work is even 
greater than the commercial value: the more nature 
is beautified , the nearer it is brought to mankind ; the 
greater the reason for closer kinship with nature, the 
cleaner and healthier human life becomes. Plant life 
and human life are so closely interwoven, that in 
training plant life to produce its best for humanity, 
Luther Burbank directly influences human life to keep 
pace with plant life. 

"//rs actual, practical gifts to the race are beyond 
comparison, and can not be estimated in millions of 
dollars or even in great statements of the advance in 
man's physical comfort and welfare.'^ 

—Benjamin Fay Mills. 

Telling His Methods to the Public 

Motive 

For the last twenty-five years Luther Burbank has 
been continuously besieged by people in all parts of the 
world for information bearing upon his discoveries. 
It is a physical impossibility to satisfy the inquiries, 
there being no published records of his methods. 



Boston 

"Luther Burbank sold 
five leaves of Spineless 
Cactus for enough to 
build him a new home. 
Cactus with the thorns 
eliminated by intelli- 
gent cultivation has 
great possibilities as 
a forage crop in arid 
districts, and the five 
leaves sold by the 
great scientist of the 
plant world went to a 
foreign governmen|t 
for propagation pur- 
poses." 

— Boston Herald. 




BURBANKS WALNUT TREE.-Will grow to a height of 80 feet, and a circumfer- 
ence of 6 feet (at the height of a man's head) in 17 years, as against a height of 20 
feet and a circumference of 1 >^ feet of a native walnut tree in 35 years. Mr. Burbank's 
black walnut, the " Royal," is the lumber tree of the future. Within twelve years from 
planting its lumber would yield $3,000 per acre, without care or outlay, save the cost 
of planting (which does not exceed $2.00 per treej, taxes and interest. 



New York 

" The laborer is worthy of his hire, and Mr. Burbank should reap abundantly the 
rewards of his indefatigable persistence and potent investigations. For one thing 
it is to be hoped that before his pen drops from his hand, he will put forth a book 
which will tell us whereof he knows, so as to add to the comfort, the health, and 
delectation of his fellowmen, who shall profit by the beneficent results of his 
wonder work when he, too, shall have passed over to the silent majority." 

—The Christian Work and Evangelist. 



Motive — continued 

These demands come in by the thousands and have 
of late assumed such proportions, that he has found 
it necessary to give the public free access to all the 
facts by publishing a full and detailed account of his 
experiments and discoveries, covering a period of 35 
years. 

Publishing Rights 

Close and intimate association with Luther Bur- 
bank resulted in the exclusive right and privilege of 
publishing his work in the United States and Foreign 
Countries having been conferred upon Mr, Oscar E. 
Binner of the Binner- Wells Co., known to the print- 
ing, publishing and advertising world as the "House 
of Quality." The Oscar E. Binner Co. was then 
established for the express purpose of carrying out 
the great task of preparation, publication and popular 
distribution of the records of Luther Burbank in book 
form. 



Washington 

"I consider Bur- 
bank's work the most 
important ever done 
for American horti 
culture, both as to 
results obtained and 
in the educational 
value of his example." 

Walter T. Swingle, 
U. S. Dept.of Agriculture , 



Contents 

The first edition will be published in five volumes. 
Every step of Mr. Burbank's researches and discover- 
ies, presenting 35 years' work in producing new and 
improved varieties of fruits, flowers, trees, vegetables, 
grains, grasses, nuts, forage plants, etc., from his first 
experiments to the present time, will be fully recorded 
in detail in plain language, so that anyone can follow 
his methods with successful results. 



Illustrations 

The books will be practically illustrated from hun- 
dreds of photographs and full page paintings in nat- 
ural colors, made directly from the subjects, under 
Luther Burbank's supervision. The illustrations in 
this prospectus are specimens and were reproduced by 
the Binner- Wells Co. ("The House of Quality"). 




y'ia''rri<» 



BURBANK'S PEARS.— A delicious combination of the Bartlett and Le Conte, and 
fully four times as productive. 



Indiana 

"He has produced new fruits, he has discovered new flowers, not an orchard 
but will be enriched as the outcome of his work, not a garden that will not be 
more beautiful because of his discoveries : — American Farmer. 



10 



Value 

The value of these books to humanity will be ap- 
preciated when it is known on what an enormous scale 
Luther Burbank conducts his experiments. While a 
great deal has been published in every part of the 
world about his work, the general public has but a 
faint idea of its economic importance to nations, or of 
the wealth realized by individuals through taking ad- 
vantage of his discoveries. 

Importance 

In these books the world will be presented, for all 
time to come, a text of such vast commercial and social 
importance as has never been told by man in any age ; 
a text that will teach the owner of an acre or more of 
ground everywhere to make it yield the greatest and 
best results; a text that will relieve city congestion 
through making country and suburban life attractive 
to everybody; a text that will provide a solution for 
the problem of ever-increasing demand for the prod- 
ucts of the earth. The Almighty made at one time 
all the earth that He will make, there will be no sec- 
ond crop, but population increases with each genera- 
tion and the demand for food is just as certain to grow 
as the quantity of earth is to remain stationary. 

^^ Nature has long waited for this man. All of 
the discoveries of the world have not equaled those 
made by Luther Burbank.^^ 

—Rev. Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis. 

World Wide Field 

No effort or expense will be spared to make the 
books the most complete and instructive ever pub- 
lished, and their price will be placed within the reach 
of all. They will be translated into a number of for- 
eign languages and will become the Bible of Plant 
Life to every farmer, every gardener, every fruit 
grower, and every lumberman. As they will teach 
how to convert desert into field or garden, and how 
to make several blades of better grass grow where 
now there is only one, it is safe to say that at least 
ten per cent, of the population everywhere will want 
and consider the books a necessity. 



Kansas 

"Everyone of Bur- 
bank's plants is a mon- 
ument in his honor." 

Prof.C.C.Georgeson 

Kansas State 
Agricultural College. 



New Jersey 

* 'The world will cer- 
tainly be vastly richer 
for what his hands 
have accomplished, 
and the consciousness 
of being instrumental 
in such work must be 
a source of untold 
happiness to him." 

— L. F. Spencer, 

Cashier First Nat'l Bank, 
Ridgewood, N. J. 



11 



Extract from 

THE MOTIVE 

from 
LUTHER BURBANK'S 

own manuscript for the first volume of his 
forthcoming books. 



"The very existence of the human race in its pres- 
ent state of civilization is absolutely and unquestion- 
ably dependent upon the improvements that have been 
made upon our cultivated plants. Take away these 
improvements produced by the brain and hand of 
man, and the human race would at once perish, or at 
best be reduced to grass-, root-, herb-, and bark-eaters. 

"Almost every fruit, nut or grain we eat ; almost 
every flower that yields us its fragrance ; almost every 
tree that furnishes us shade, has been improved by cul- 
tivation and selection. Sometimes consciously — often 
unconsciously — have these developments been at- 
tained, but a knowledge of the fundamental principles 
involved in the definite and speedy production of these 
improved variations has never been very clearly com- 
prehended, or appreciated, until of late. A new crea- 
tion in grains, fruits, flowers, or even trees does not 
surprise us now as it did only a decade ago. These 
new and improved combinations of qualities that have 
been made inherent in plant-life by intelligent guid- 
ance when carried on so as to produce distinct and 
striking forms, especially those of great value, can be 
far more properly called new Creations than can new 
conceptions in art, new figures in statuary, new pro- 



12 



The Motive— Luther Burbank— Continued. 



ductions of the brain in the form of literature or music, 
or creations of new types of government ; for the very- 
creative forces themselves are guided and controlled 
in the development and construction of these new 
forms of life. 

"The methods employed in producing these new 
creations are in general those outlined by Charles Dar- 
win and others, but the actual production of the new 
forms has been on a much larger scale and broader 
plan than had ever before been undertaken, numerous 
combinations having been effected that before had 
been generally thought impossible. These new crea- 
tions are living exemplifications of the knowledge that 
the life-forces of plants may be combined and guided 
to produce results that could not have been imagined 
possible by those who had given the matter little 
thought. 

"For the last twenty years or more I have been 
constantly besieged "by people in almost every station 
in life, and have received thousands of letters each 
year, and some years of late have been waited upon by 
nearly as many thousand visitors in person, eager to 
learn by what means these results in plant-life have 
been produced. 

"These demands for information have lately be- 
come so constant and insistent from all parts of the 
civilized world, that at last I have found it necessary, 
for the benefit of those interested in the work of plant 
improvement and as a matter of self-protection, to de- 
scribe so far as possible the methods, processes, fail- 
ures, and successes accompanying my experiments. 
These descriptions are for the benefit of all who desire 
to know more of the work, and that the general public 
may have free access to all the facts. 

"The forthcoming volumes are for the people, not 
for the scientific investigator, and I hope to tell the 



Continued on page 38 




!",»■ 



S^ 





STILL IMPROVING THE BURBANK POTATO, which according to the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agricultiire is adding $17,000,000 a year to the wealth of the country. 



Kansas 

"I wonder if you realize how general is the public interest in your work. I 
have been interviewed more than a score of times about your work since my visit, 
and requested to write paper articles. Rev. Mr. Sheldon, to whose church I 
belong, recently gave a lengthy and very sensible prelude to his sermon on your 
work. It is very gratifying and clearly indicates that scientific plant breeding can 
be made general."— Prof. W. A. Harshberger, Washburn College, Topeka, Kan. 



14 




Luther Burbank 

Adapted from Encyclopedia Americana. 

UTHER BURBANK, American 
plant breeder, born in Lancaster, 
Mass., March 7, 1849. Moved to 
Santa Rosa, Cal., in 1875 where 
he has since resided and carried 
on his work. The many and 
important creations of fruits 
flowers and vegetables have 
made him the best known plant breeder in the world. 
The characteristics which are special factors in 
the success of his work are: the large extent of his 
experiments, the keenness of perception of slight vari- 
ations in plant qualities, and the rapidity with which 
he develops new qualities. But the final and most 
important factor in Burbank's success is the inherited 
personal genius of the man, whose innate sympathy 
with Nature, aided by the practical education in plant 
biology, derived from 35 years of constant study and 
experiment enable him to perceive correlations and 
outcome of plant growth which seems to have been 
visible to no other man. 

The history of Burbank's life is the history of his 
work. 

Fruit 

Burbank has originated and introduced a remark- 
able series of Plums and Prunes, and some of them 
notably the Gold, Wickson, Apple, October, Purple, 
Chalco, American and Climax Plums, and the Splen- 
dor and Sugar Prunes are the best known and the 
most successful kinds now grown. In addition he has 
produced a stoneless Plum, and has created the Plum- 
cot by crossing the Japanese Plum with the Apricot. 

The Bartlett Plum is a cross of the bitter Chinese 
Simoni and the Delaware, a Burbank product, and 
has the exact fragrance and flavor of the Bartlett pear. 
The Climax Plum is a cross of the Simoni and the 



California 

"Every thought of 
his is charged with 
philanthropy, the 
furnishing of greater 
beauty or richer sus- 
tenance at lower cost 
to the human race." 
— E. J. Wickson, 
Dean 
University of California. 



Chicago 

' 'Luther Burbank in 
his work stands forth 
in the world alone. 
He is scientist, in- 
ventor, discoverer, 
the Edison of plant 
life, a disciple of Dar- 
win in the evolution 
of plants and a master 
workman in the learn- 
ing of his craft." 
— Hamilton Wright, 
The World Today. 



15 




ROYAL BLACK WALNUT.— Specimen finished by SchoUe Furniture Co., 222 
Wabash Ave., Chicago. It resembles tropical mahogany, and is as hard as the 
old-fashioned Black Walnut, but has a finer grain and takes a higher finish. 
Owing to the scarcity of Black Walnut, this wood is worth from $200 to $700 
per 1,000 feet, board measure. Will grow anywhere and produce about $3,000 of 
lumber to the acre within 12 years after planting. 



16 



Fruit— continued 

Japanese Triflora. The Chinese Simoni produces al- 
most no pollen, but few grains of it ever having been 
obtained, but these few have enabled Burbank to re- 
volutionize the whole plum shipping industry. 

Burbank has originated and introduced the Van 
Deman, Santa Rosa, Alfa, Pineapple, Number Eighty, 
Flowering Dazzle and other Quinces; the Opulent 
Peach and the Winterstein Apple. 

Berries 

His experimentation with berries extended through 
30 years of constant attention, and has resulted in the 
introduction of a score of new commercial varieties of 
dewberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and 
cherries. 

Among these may especially be mentioned the 
Primus, which ripens its main crop before most of the 
raspberries or blackberries commence to bloom. The 
Iceberg, with beautiful snowwhite berries, so nearly 
transparent that the small seeds may be seen in them. 
The Japanese Golden Mayberry,Cuthbert, Phenomenal 
and Himalaya berries and the latest Patagonia straw- 
berry which is essentially a home berry, easy to raise, 
producing great quantities of large, firm, pineapple - 
sweet berries, without the usual care necessary to 
produce good strawberries. It is the first of a new 
race which has come to make strawberry growers re- 
joice. 

Commercial Value 

A glimpse of the commercial value of Burbank pro- 
ductions may be gathered from the fact that the "Bur- 
bank," the earliest of large cherries, (see page 30) and 
unsurpassed by any cherry of any season, brought at 
w^holesale public auction $7.50 per 10 pound box in car- 
load lots, and later sold at a fabulous price of $31.00 
per box of 10 pounds. 

Lumber 

By crossing the native California Black Walnut 
with an English Walnut and a New England Black 



Virginia 

"While I have long 
been impressed with 
Mr. Burbank 's work, 
I am now over- 
whelmed with the 
vast amount of good 
which he has been 
able to accomplish. 
I respect his work 
above all that has ever 
been done for horti- 
culture. ' ' 

Prof . Wm. B. Alwood 
Horticulturist and Mycol- 
ogist Virginia College 
& Experiment Stations. 



Indiana 

"Burbank's 'Gold' 
plum is simply the 
greatest plum ever 
produced in this 
country." 

— G. A. Grass, 
Troy, Perry County, Ind. 



17 




THORNLESS BLACKBERRY-Produced by Mr. Burbank. Notice how much stur- 
dier it is than the ordinary thorny branch. 



New York 

"One need not be a farmer to be interested in farming. The work of a man like 
Luther Burbank appeals to an immense constituency. . . . You feel his kind 
and gentle spirit and before you know it you love him. In visiting his place, one 
feels regret that record is not being made of his rich results. His work makes for 
progress. "—Prof . L. H. Bailey in "The World's Work." 



18 



Lumber— continued 

Walnut he has produced the Paradox and Royal Wal- 
nuts, staunch and most beautiful trees, which in 17 
years attained a height of 80 feet, and a circumfer- 
ence of 6 feet at a height of a man's head, as against a 
height of 20 feet and a circumference of 18 inches of 
the ordinary Walnut in 35 years. These trees are des- 
tined to replenish the lumber supply of the world, and 
constitute one of the most important contributions Mr. 
Burbank has made to the specifically commercial life 
of the world. A Chestnut seedling, bearing a crop of 
nuts after 6 months growth from seed, as against 10 
to 15 years of an ordinary tree, is another Burbank 
contribution. 

Vegetables 

Of new vegetables, Burbank has introduced beside 
the Burbank potato, new tomatoes, squashes, aspara- 
gus, rhubarb, etc. 

The Burbank potato is grown all over the world, 
growers and dealers everywhere consider it to be the 
hardiest, best tasting and most prolific. The Crimson 
Winter Rhubarb is abundantly ready for the market 
fully six months earlier than other rhubarb. It has 
the soft and pleasant taste of berries, increases about 
ten times as fast as the old coarse kinds, and will 
yield $1000 an acre the first year after planting. 

Cactus 

One of Burbank's most wonderful achievements is 
the thornless Cactus. In this he has not only pro- 
vided a vast reservoir of food for man and millions of 
beasts of the field, but he has made possible the rec- 
lamation of nearly three billion acres of desert. The 
Burbank Cactus Pear is as juicy as the ripest Water- 
melon and the flavor as delicious as a pineapple or 
Bartlett pear. The Cactus plant itself is an excellent 
food for animals, and its enormous yield per acre pro- 
vides a large quantity of fermentable material for the 
production of denatured alcohol. 



South Dakota 

"No one appreciates 
more than the writer 
the immense extent of 
Mr. Burbank's labors 
in the improvement 
of fruits." 

—Prof. N. E. Hansen, 
South Dakota 

Agrricultural College. 



19 




BURBANK ROSE.— The judges at the St. Louis Exposition placed it in a class of its 
own for beauty and unusual qualities, and awarded Mr. Burbank a Special Gold Medal. 



Appreciation 



"The honesty of Darwin, his love of nature, his reverence for truth, the 
modesty of his claims, set him apart as the High Priest of Science. In all the 
realm of physical research, Darwin seemed to have but one compeer, and 
that was Aristotle. Now^ there's a trinity, for Luther Burbank is one of these. 
He is a citizen of the Celestial City of Fine Minds. The most beautiful words 
I heard him utter w^ere these: 'I do not know^.' He makes no effort to 
explain things he does not understand. He lives out his life in the light. 
'The land that produces beautiful flow^ers and luscious fruits w^ill also produce 
noble men and women,' said Aristotle. Also in producing beautiful flowers 
and luscious fruits men and w^omen become noble. The finest product of 
the life and work of Luther Burbank is Luther Burbank." 



—Elbert Hubbard in the "Philistine." Dec. 1910. 



20 



Flowers 

Among the many new flower varieties originated 
by Burbank, are the Peachblow, Burbank, Coquito 
and Santa Rosa Roses. The Splendor, Fragrance and 
Snowflake Callas. The enormous Shasta and Alaska 
Daisies. The Ostrich Plume, Waverly, Snowdrift and 
double Clematises. A dozen new Gladioli, among 
them one of greatly enhanced beauty, taught to bloom 
around its entire stem, like a Hyacinth, instead of the 
old way on one side only. Several Amaryllis, among 
them one plant bred up from 3 or 4 inches to 
nearly a foot in diameter. A Dahlia with the fra- 
grance of the Violet. The Scentless Verbena given 
the intensified odor of the Trailing Arbutus. The 
Fire, Striped, Cornelian. Silverlined, and Crimson 
California (Escholtzia) Poppies. 

Referring to his new Lilies Mr. Burbank says: 
'^Can my thoughts be imagined after so many years 
of patient care and labor (he had been working over 
16 years on the lilies)^ as walking among them on a 
dewy morning^ I see these new forms of beauty on 
which other eyes have never gazed. Here a plant 6 
feet high with yellow flowers. Beside it one of only 
6 inches high with dark red flowers. Further on 
one of pale straw, or snowy white, and others with 
various dots and shadings. Some deliciously fra- 
grant, others faintly so. Some with upright, others 
with nodding flowers. Some with dark green, woolly 
leaves in whirls, others with polished light green 
lance-like scattered leaves.'" 

Value of Records 

Burbank has been primarily intent on the produc- 
tion of new and improved fruits, flowers, vegetables 
and trees for the immediate benefit of mankind. But 
where experimentation is being carried on so exten- 
sively, it is obvious that there must be a large accumu- 
lation of data of much scientific and commercial value 
in its relations to the great problems of economy, 



Pittsburg 

"As Edison has 
revolutionized the 
world through his 
electrical inventions, 
even so Burbank is 
revolutionizing the 
world through plant 
transformation. This 
man has become fa- 
mous the whole world 
around, and is to be- 
come known to the 
world's history as one 
of the very greatest 
benefactors." 

—Rev. Marion G. Ratnbo, 
Presbyterian Banner 



Philadelphia 

"He stands easily 
at the head of the 
world's greatest ex- 
perimentalists in 
plant life." 
— W. Atlee Burpee, 

Seedsman. 



21 



Value of Records — continued 

heredity, variation and species forming. Burbank's 
experimental gardens may be looked upon as a great 
laboratory in which at present masses of valuable data 
are, for lack of time, being let go unrecorded, so that 
the present generation and posterity are deprived of the 
great benefits resultant from his researches. This will 
be remedied through the publication of his records 
by the Oscar E. Binner Co. 

Magnitude of Work 

The magnitude of Luther Burbank's work can be 
imagined from the fact that he has produced some 
fifty million hybrid and cross-bred seedlings. At one 
time he had 900,000 Olive trees growing, of which over 
125,000 were purchased and planted by forty different 
people. The care with which he carries on his work 
is best apparent from his practice of frequently select- 
ing only one out of some 50,000 seedlings and burning 
up all of the others. 

Honors 

Luther Burbank is a Fellow of the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science; California 
Vice President of the American Pomological Society; 
Honorary Member California State Floral Society; 
Honorary Member California State Board of Trade. 
He was selected the first Honorary Member of a pos- 
sible ten of the Plant and Animal Breeder's Associa- 
tion of the United States and Canada. The California 
Academy of Science in 1903 awarded him its Semi- 
centennial Gold Medal, an honor possible to but one 
man, once in 50 years. Arbor or Burbank Day is legal- 
ized in California to be celebrated on March 7, Bur- 
bank's birthday. 

For more detailed accounts of Burbank and his 
work, see list of pamphlets on the following page, any 
of which will be sent free on application to Oscar E. 
Binner Co., American Trust Bldg., Chicago, 111. 



22 



List of Pamphlets 

In process of publication for free distribution. Requests should 

be addressed to Oscar E. Dinner Co., American 

Trust Building, Chicago, Illinois. 

Luther Burbank . The High Priest of Horticulture in transform- 
ing and improving plant life and products. — GEORGE A. 
CLARK. —Success Magazine. 

A Maker of New Fruits and Flowers .— PROF. L. H. BAILEY, 
Cornell University. —World's Work. 

Some Experiments of Luther Burbank. — DAVID STARR JOR- 
DAN, Stanford University. —Popular Science Monthly. 

Luther Burbank . The Man, His Methods and Achievements. 
—PROF. EDWARD J. WICKSON, Dean University of 
California. Republished by the Southern Pacific Co., under 
the title, " Luther Burbank — An Appreciation. " —Sunset. 

The Miracle Maker of Gardens. — EMMA BURBANK BEESON. 

—The Independent. 

The Scientific Aspects of Luther Burbank's Work. — VERNON L. 

KELLOGG, Professor of Entomology, Stanford University. 

—Popular Science Monthly. 
Transforming the World of Plants. — GARRETT P. SERVISS. 

—Cosmopolitan. 

Luther Burbank. A Sermon delivered at Lenox Avenue 

Church, New York City. - Rev. Dr. M. St. C. Wright. 

The Training of the Human Plant. — LUTHER BURBANK. 

—Century Magazine. 
How to Produce New Trees, Fruits and Flowers. Read at a meet- 
ing of the American Pomological Society. —Luther Burbank. 

Luther Burbank. — DAVID STARR JORDAN, President 
Stanford University. —Western Tours. 

Luther Burbank's Wonderful Work in Horticulture. — CHAS. J. 
WOODBURY. —Scientific American. 

A Maker of New Plants and Fruits. — W. S. HARWOOD. 

—Scribner's Magazine. 
The Commercial Value of Luther Burbank's Work. 

—Oscar E. Binner. 
A Visit to Luther Burbank. — PROF. HUGO DE VRIES, 
University of Amsterdam, Holland. 

—Popular Science Monthly. 

Luther Burbank.- Character Building. —California Schools Text. 
Rejuvenation of Desert and Forest. —Oscar E. Sinner. 

Luther Burbank. An Addvess.-Governor Pardee of California. 



San Jose. 

"His yearly addi- 
tions to improved va- 
rieties of vegetables, 
fruits and flowers 
mark him as one of 
the most wonderful 
and beneficent men 
of the century." 
— San Jose Mercury. 



23 



The Chicago Public Library 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

ROBERT J RpULSTOy Puce 

CEORGE B ARMSTRONG VPCt Pbc9 

CRAMAM TAYLOR EDWARD A BLOOOCTT 

JULIUS STERN r REpERICK H R AWSON 

ANTONIOLAOORIO NjORTiMER FRAKlPC 

MENRV V TRECMAN 

HARRVG WruSON. Scc«tT*Rv 
MBNRV E* UEGLCR L^eoAR.AN 

Jan. 16th, 1911. 

Jlfr. Oecar E. Binner, 

Publisher, American Trust Building, 
Chicago. 
My dear Mr. Binner: — 

My thanks are due you for your kindness and 
courtesy in showing to Dr. Frank and myself the interesting exhib- 
it of material which will later become a part of Luther Burbank's 
Works. Unquestionably the proposed publication will be awaited 
with eagerness by the general public and will be welcomed to the 
shelves of the public libraries of the coxmtry. Judging from 
what you have shown me the publication will be a real contribution 
to knowledge. 

Yoviro truly. 



^^^^-<^tiw- 



ffl S EloAo \rlkn Mic,:^J j Iri %^k 

ESTABLISHED ie6T INCORPORATED 1885 
R F MUNRO. PnesioeHt 

LCDOGGETTV,«P«t5.otN, °" E HAWKINS. 

r H BRENNAN.Stc-..«„i„.„R ©JJU©aB©j&'y'lilMDUS5fei7iXlI!^^ Advertising Manager 

W J MCMILLAN, AsftrStC* anO ASSt Treasb 

general CABLE ADDRESS TRIBUNE 8U I LDIN6 /f L 1 -. v V 'k 

"Gottolene" liaPcaibom sj.ViipKuCJC'. Januarys, 1911. 



Mr. Oscar E. Blrmer, 

President, Oeoar E. Binner Company, 

American Trust Building, Chicago. 
Dear Kr. Binner: 

It was a great stroke of businese acumen on your part to 
secure the exclusive rights of publishing Luther Burbank's records. 
The world is anxious to learn cuid follow Burbank's methods, "and you 
have the ability, energy and organization to satisfy the demand through 
giving the books the greatest possible sale. 

Wishing you a full measure of success, believe me 
Very truly yours, 



"4^^^^ 





President 

Oscar E. Binner Co. 
Luther Burbank's Publishers. 

SCAR E. BINNER was born in 
Milwaukee in 1863. In 1880 he 
was apprenticed as an engraver 
and in 1888 was taken into the 
oldest engraving house in Mil- 
waukee as its Secretary. In 1889 
he went into the business for 
himself, under the name of the 
Binner Engraving Co. 

In 1893 a Chicago office was opened and within a 
year his business had grown to such proportions, that 
the headquarters were transferred to Chicago, and 
a branch retained in Milwaukee. 




Wisconsin 

' 'Years of acquaint- 
ance — business and 
personal — lead me to 
express unlimited con- 
fidence in the success 
of any undertaking 
with which you may 
be identified. Your 
many successful years 
in the engraving, 
printing and publish- 
ing business fit you 
better for the proper 
publication of Luther 
Burbank's great 
work than any man I 
know of." 

— C. R. Carpenter, 
Cashier Com'l & Savings 
Bank, Racine, Wis. 



New York 

"You have before 
you one of the great- 
est opportunities to 
issue a set of books, 
not only exclusive, but 
the most interesting 
and instructive of 
modern times, and I 
predict for it a large 
and successful sale." 

— G. T. Rovi^land, 
Encyclopedia Americana 



25 



Oscar E. Binner— continued 



Milwaukee 

"Mypersonal knowl- 
edge of the ability, 
integrity and faithful- 
ness of Mr. Binner is 
such that I will un- 
hesitatingly recom- 
mend whatever he 
takes hold of." 
— Wm. C. Brumder, 

President 

Germania Publishing Co., 

Milwaukee, Wis. 



Rac i ne 

' 'Having known Mr. 
Binner for a number 
of years, I feel that 
he is fully capable of 
performing his part 
of the work, and fully 
entitled to confidence 
as regards integrity 
and reliability." 

— F. L. Mitchell, 
Treasurer 
Mitchell-LewisMotorCo. 
'^Racine, Wis. 



Soon after the firm acquired a national reputation 
for good work done for some of the largest business 
houses in the land. Natural growth made it neces- 
sary to open a New York office, and during the fiv« 
years of Mr. Dinner's residence in New York he 
formed a lasting personal friendship with the lead- 
ing advertisers, printers and publishers. 

In 1904 Capt, W. J. Wells joined the firm, and the 
name was changed to the Binner-Wells Co. It soon 
became known as "The House of Quality" to the pub- 
lishing and allied trades throughout the United States. 
Mr. Binner remained President of the Company until 
he was called upon to take up what he considered his 
life's work, i. e., the publication of the works of Luther 
Burbank. 

Mr. Binner first met Luther Burbank on January 
1 2th, 1908, over three years ago, and ever since then 
has been in close touch with him. During these three 
years considerable material and illustrations were pre- 
pared and assembled for publication, and for the great- 
er part of one year Mr. Binner resided in Santa Rosa, 
the home of Mr. Burbank, and came into daily contact 
with him. In this way Mr, Binner has thoroughly 
saturated himself with Luther Burbank's great work, 
and perhaps no other man living has enjoyed this 
great privilege as Mr. Binner has. 

Much has been said and written about Luther 
Burbank and his remarkable researches in Plant Life, 
but in Mr. Binner's close investigations he has found 
that no one has yet touched upon the man's real great- 
ness and achievements. The records of Luther Bur- 
bank's work will be compiled for presentation by him- 
self, and the sole ris^ht to publish these records is 
owned by the Oscar E. Binner Co. 

Mr. Binner's early training in the business of illus- 
trating, engraving, printing and publishing, enables 
him now to employ his many years of practical knowl- 
edge and experience in doing justice to the assembly 
and publication of the works of Luther Burbank. 



26 



When shown some of the material already prepared, 
those familiar with this class of work were free to con* 
fess that no set of books ever published in this country 
contained such wealth of information, or quality of 
illustration. 

Mr. Binner's dominating purpose is to publish 
Luther Burbank's works in a manner befitting the 
subject, and creditable to the author, as well as to the 
United States, as the books will be demanded in every 
part of the globe, wherever a blade of grass or a shrub 
can be made to grow. 

Mr. Binner realizes that this set of books will live 
for many generations to teach the young and old a 
wonderful lesson of Plant Breeding. The same minute 
care with which Mr. Burbank conducts his horticul- 
tural experiments Mr. Binner will endeavor to give to 
the publication and distribution of the books. 



Chicago 

' 'The handling of 
the coming editions 
of Burbank's Works 
should give Mr. Bin- 
ner a splendid oppor- 
tunity for the exer- 
cise of his great big, 
broad-gauged execu- 
tive ability." 

— James J. Stokes, 
Advertising Manager 
Marshall Field & Co., 
Chicago 



Reference by Permission 



C. R. Carpenter 



Bankers 

Cashier Commercial and Savings Bank, 
Racine, Wis. 



Wm. R. Dawes 
Andrew Frame 

Nelson N. Lampert 
Geo. Merryweather 
L. J. Petit 



James K. Armsby 

Jacob Baur 
B. S. Bull 



Cashier Central Trust Co., Chicago. 

Pres. Waukesha National Bank, Wau- 
kesha, Wis. 

V. P. Ft. Dearborn Natl. Bank, Chicago. 

Pres. Railway Exchange Bank, Chicago. 

Pres. Wisconsin National Bank, Mil- 
waukee, Wis. 

General 

Pres. J. K, Armsby Co. (Alaska Fish- 
eries), San Francisco, Cal. 

Pres. Liquid Carbonic Co.. Chicago. 

Director Washburn-Crosby Co., Min- 
neapolis. 



Chicago 

"I feel assured that 
the publication of 
Luther Burbank's 
Works would attract 
attention in all direc- 
tions. Under your 
energetic manage- 
ment it should prove 
a great success." 
Geo. Merryweather, 

President 

Railway Exchange Bank, 

Chicago 



27 



TBIl^^tvvELJlil 



Dovsi rn/w Paok & CoMiwNY PuBuiSHEne 

_^ ^ 

GARDEN crtY MEW V<HIK 




January 19, 1911. 
Dear Mr. Binner: 

It muBf bo a great privilege to be inetruniental in giving 
to the world the Works of such a man as Luther Burbank; and as a fellow 
publisher I congratulate you that you are to be that inetrxunent. Most 
certainly the Works of Biirbank will be re&eJLvod with great intereat^ by 
the country, even by those who differ with Bvirbank's oonclusione; indeed, 
r am not sure but that these people will welcome the Works quite as keen- 
ly as those who agree with Burbank's conclusions. lou are engaged in a 
tremendously Important publishing enterprise and be sure that you haye our 
.beet wishes for large financial returns, which I believe you will get be- 
cause I believe you will deserve them. 

Youra very sincerely, 

Doubleday, Page & Co. 



XV^^^"^. \W-:aA:o=;:. 



Vice-President. 




CAPITAL $1.500 000 

SUPPLUS AND PROFITS $400,000 

UNITED STATES DEPOSITARY 



'tl^ Janxzary 17, 1911. 



0COA9C H.WILSON. CHAR 

THOMAS C NEWCOM 



Mr. Oscar E. Binner, 
Chicago, IlllnclB. 

Dear Mr. Binner: - 

I am glad to learn that Luther Biirbank has entrusted you 
with the exclusive publication of his great discoveries, and fully 
endorse his choice . 

I believe that Mr. Burbank's crowning contribution to man- 
kind will be the publication. In book form, of his methods, for the 
use and benefit of the maesee. To my mind the demand for such books 
is universal. Your own dynamic energy, coupled with the mechanical 
and business experience, which you are known to possess, assure great 
financial profit from the publication of the books. 

I have known you In a business and personal way for a num- 
ber of years. You have my confidence and are entitled not only to 
public esteem, but to general recognition of the service which you 
are rendering hvimanity in perpetuating Luther Bxorbank'e great work. 



Wishing you every possible suocess, I remain 



Yours very sincerely, / / . 




vies President. 



Reference— continued 



F. W. Croll 
Patrick M. Hanney 

E. A. Higgins 
W. H. Holmes 
Angus S. Hibbard 
Henry E. Legler 
Ed. B. Merritt 

F. L. Mitchell 

Dr. A. J. Ochsner 
Col. Gustave Pabst 
Lewis W. Parker 
Charles W. Post 



Treas. Armour & Co., Chicago. 

Pres. Hazel Pure Food Co., Chicago. 

Storz Brewing Co., Omaha. 

Treas. Fox River Butter Co., Aurora, 111. 

Vice Pres. Chicago Telephone Co., 

Librarian Chicago Public Library. 

Adv. Mgr. Armour & Co., Chicago. 

Treas. Mitchell-Lewis Motor Co., Ra- 
cine, Wis. 

2106 Sedgwick St., Chicago. 

Pres. Pabst Brewing Co., Milwaukee. 

Parker & Hagan, Chicago. 

Pres. Postum Cereal Co., Battle Creek, 
Mich. 



Gilbert E. Roe 
H. G. Selfridge 
Francis H. Sisson 
Hon, Ben M. Smith 
Jas. J. Stokes 



Roe & McCombs, 96 Broadway, N. Y. 

Oxford St., London, England. 

Sec'y American Real Estate Co., N. Y. 

Justice Apellate Court, Chicago. 

Marshall Field & Co., Chicago. 

J. Walter Thompson Pres. J. Walter Thompson Co., N. Y. 

A. G. Van Nostrand Owner Bunker Hill Breweries, Boston, 
Mass. 

Arthur D. White 

James Wood 



Adv. Mgr. Swift & Co., Chicago. 
Barnhart Bros. & Spindler Co., Chicago. 

Publishers 



Minneapolis . 

"You lent us your 
best co-operation, 
and, with all due re- 
spect to others, will 
say we missed you 
when your personal 
attention was taken 
up in other lines." 

— Benj. S. Bull, 
Director and Adv. Mgr. 
Washburn-Crosby Co. 
Minneapolis, Minn. 



Curtiss M. Brady 
Wm. C. Brumder 
J. B. Carrington 
Cyrus H. K. Curtis 

Edward S. Curtis 

Louis Eckstein 
T. J. Foster 

Robt. Frothingham 
Herbert S. Houston 



Sec. S. S. McClure Co., New York. 

Pres. Germania Publ. Co., Milwaukee. 

Chas. Scribner's Sons Co., New York. 

Publisher Saturday Evening Post and 
Ladies Home Journal. 

Publisher, under the patronage of J. 
Pierpont Morgan. 

Pres. Red Book Pub. Co., Chicago. 

Pres. International Text Book Co., 
Scranton, Pa. 

Everybody's Magazine, New York. 

Vice Pres. Doubleday, Page & Co., Gar- 
den City, N. Y. (World's Work.) 



Massachusetts. 

"An evidence of 
Luther Burbank's 
wisdom is his selection 
of my good old friend 
Mr. Binner as the one 
to publish his life 
story." 
—Chas. H. Stovk^ell, 

Treas. and Mgr. 

The J. C. Ayer Co. 

Lowell, Mass. 



29 




!<.<:')' 



BURBANK CHERRY.— Natural Size.— The earliest of all large cherries, and un- 
equalled by any cherry of any season. Brought at wholesale public auction, $7.50 
per 10 pound box in carload lots. Sold at retail at from $15.00 to $31.00 per box of 10 
pounds. 



"The sun never sets upon the Burbank creations: in far away Australia they find 
a welcome; from the Cecil Rhodes orchards in South Africa, Burbank plums are 
shipped to San Francisco for the winter market, arriving there in good condition, 
after a journey half around the globe ; in the garden of the King of England grows 
Burbank's famous Crimson Winter Rhubarb, also enjoyed by the Mikado of Japan. 
The prosperous town of Vacaville, in California, owes its growth and prosperity to 
the Burbank fruits, and claims him as its patron saint."— The Independent. 



30 



Some Subj ect s 



From the Contents of the Books 



Plans, Records, Labels. 

Heredity and Environment. 

Creation of the Shasta 
Daisy. 

Boxes, Soils, Planting, and 
Culture. 

The Economic Value of 
Milkweeds. 

The Motive prompting the 
production of this work. 

Introduction, by President 
David Starr Jordan of 
Stanford University. 



New Varieties of Peas. 

Crimson Winter Rhubarb. 
Origin of the Burbank 
Potato. 

Some Novel Experiments 
with Beans. 

New and Promising Forage 
Grasses. 

Production of New and Def- 
inite Colors in Flowers. 

Production of any Fragrance, 
Elimination of a Disagree- 
able Odor and Substitu- 
tion of a Pleasant One. 



U. of C. 

"lam glad to know 
that you are to bring 
out a complete ac- 
count of the work of 
Luther Burbank . . . 
it should mark the 
beginning of a new 
epoch in agriculture." 
Prof.R. D.Salisbury, 
University of Chicaeo 



How the Following Were Produced 



Stoneless Plums. 

Fragrant Verbenas. 

New Plumcots. 

The Himalaya Berry. 

The Unexcelled Clematis. 

The Hybrid Berry, Primus. 

Experiments with Chest- 
nuts. 

The Thornless Cactus, 
Opuntia. 

Important Philippine 
Grasses. 

Production of New Varie- 
ties of Oats and Rye. 
etc. 



The Giant Prune. 

The Burbank Plum. 

The Wickson Plum. 

The Pineapple Quince. 

New Poppies and Colors. 

The Phenomenal Berry. 

Ornamental Trees and 
Shrubs. 

New and Important Wal- 
nut Trees. 

The Evolutional History of 
Indian Corn, 

Calla Lilies— White, Yel- 
low and Fragrant, 
etc. 



Australia 

"We wish to have a 
permanent bound 
record of the origin 
of these wonderful 
new fruits and flowers, 
the creation of which 
is building up a mon- 
ument to Mr. Bur- 
bank which will re- 
main for generations .' 

— Whangarei Fruit G row- 
ers' Association, 

New Zealand. 



31 




WHITE BLACKBERRY.-A careful Burbank product of the Lawton and the 
Crystal-White. Unusually luscious and prolific. 

Washington 

"Mr. Burbank's good works will bless humanity long after he has said 'Good 
Night.' His work is always a source of inspiration to me, and I am continuously 
wondering 'what will he accomplish next'?" 

—Col. G. B. Brackett, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 

32 



Publishers' Information 

Rights 

The Oscar E. Binner Co. has the exclusive rights to 
publish Luther Burbank's Works in popular and text book 
forms, in the United States as well as all foreign 
countries, and owns all copyrights. Thus creating a 
continuous revenue to the Author and the Publishers 
for at least 56 years. 

Purpose 

The immediate purpose is to publish Luther Bur- 
bank's Works in popular form and later on to follow 
it up by publication in text book form. Considerable 
of the material — gathered during three years at a great 
cost — is on hand, and the remainder will be prepared 
and assembled ready for publication during the next 
few months. For popular distribution the books will 
be published in five volumes ranging in price from $25 
to $50 for the unlimited editions, and $100 to $1,000 for 
the limited editions. The unlimited editions will be 
sold on easy payments, extending over a long period 
of months, so as to place them within the reach of 
everybody. 



Illinois 

"I wish you could 
know how much I owe 
to the genius and 
spirit of your friend 
Mr. Burbank. He 
has helped me through 
many a sermon, and 
given me a gate-way 
into many a fine ave- 
nue to nature. ' ' 
Dr. F. W. Gunsaulus, 

Pres. Armour Institute 
of Technoloey, Chicago 



Publicity Value 

Mr. Burbank's world-wide fame will tend to pro- 
duce an immediate demand and sale for the books. 
The publicity given Luther Burbank and his pro- 
ductions by magazines and newspapers throughout 
the world could not be duplicated for any monetary 
consideration. This tremendous advertising value at 
once becomes a permanent asset of great benefit to 
the company. 

Field 

In his manuscript introduction to these books, 
Luther Burbank says: ''These volumes are for the 



Introduction 

"In the pages of 
this volume and those 
which are to follow, 
Luther Burbank has 
given a . . . noble 
record, with far-reach- 
ing results and many- 
sided interests. ' ' 

—From the Introduction 
to Luther Burbank's 
Works by 
David Starr Jordan, 

Pres. Stanford University 



33 




COBLESS CORN.-At the right, husk around each kernel. At the left, husk around 
each kernel and growing on tassel, illustrating the first few steps back in the evolution 
to its original form. 

California 

"I have heard expressions from the German agriculturists who visited Mr. Bur- 
bank to the effect that of all the wonders they have seen in California, to them the 
meeting of Mr. Burbank was of more interest than anything else." 

— Ruf us P. Jennings, Chairman California Promotion Committee. 



34 



The Field— continued 



people, not for the scientific investigators, and I 
hope to tell the facts in a plain, matter-of-fact way, 
which will be understood by everybody.'" This 
statement insures the popular character of the books. 

The field for Luther Burbank's books is unlimited 
— as great as man's desire to improve his circum- 
stances and environment. It is astounding how the 
man who owns a garden, farm or orchard is hungry 
for information on Burbank's methods. Mr. Burbank 
has on file tens of thousands of letters from nearly ev- 
ery civilized country in the world, including numer- 
ous letters from their rulers, requesting information 
upon his work and his methods. 



Africa 

"Mr. Burbank is to 
be congratulated upon 
the splendid reputa- 
tion his products en- 
joy here in Natal, es- 
pecially the fine Bur- 
bank plum." 

—Baldwin Reiner, 
Trappists-Nursery, 
Dronkvlei, Natal, Africa. 



Popular Edition 

This will appeal to the masses. In the United States 
alone there are seven million farmers, exclusive of 
gardeners, horticulturists and lumbermen. Adding 
Canada, Mexico and South America we find sixteen 
million people interested in some branch of Luther 
Burbank's work. Every individual of these sixteen 
millions is a prospective purchaser of Luther Bur- 
bank's books. Great Britain with its Colonies will fur- 
nish as large a demand. Translations into French, 
German, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Japanese will 
create as many more prospective purchasers, as, ow- 
ing to density of population making intensified land 
culture a necessity, foreign countries have evidenced 
even more interest in Burbank's work, than our own: 
the Mikado of Japan expressed a keen desire to make 
Luther Burbank's methods popular among his people, 
and the King of Italy has. at his own expense, gath- 
ered, translated and published for distribution every 
article he could find bearing upon Luther Burbank. 

The popular edition will therefore have a field 
of about fifty million prospective purchasers to 
draw upon. 



Europe 

"Luther Burbank is 
the greatest breeder 
of plants the world has 
ever known. The mag- 
nitude of his work ex- 
cels anything that was 
ever done before even 
by large firms in the 
course of genera- 
tions." 

— Dr. Hugo DeVries, 

University of Amsterdam. 
HoUand. 



35 




CACTUS PEARS.— As juicy as a ripe watermelon, with the flavor of a pineapple or 
Bartlett pear. Thirty- two full-sized cactus pears will grow on a single leaf one foot 
in length. Bvu-bank's Opuntia, or thornless cactus, will materially aid in reclaiming 
and populating some three billion acres of desert. The plant will produce as high as 
500 tons of food per acre, as against 5 tons of alfalfa or a ton and a half of corn (43 
bushels) . An acre of cactus will produce $500 worth of denatured alcohol, as against 
about $35 worth from an acre of Indian corn. 



36 



Text Books 

The text book edition presents fully as great pos- 
sibilities as the popular edition, as every year there 
are at least a million children entering schools and 
colleges in the United States alone. 

The following is quoted from a letter received from 
Mr. T. J. Foster, President of the International Text 
Book Co.: *'Our Executive Committee is unanimous 
in the opinion that there exists an excellent field for 
the exploitation of Mr. Burbank's writings. We are 
fully alive to the financial possibilities in the pub- 
lication of Mr. Burbank's works, because we quite 
agree that you have a magnificent proposition from 
a publishers standpoint. ^^ 

No book or set of books published covers any one 
subject as fundamentally and practically as Burbank's 
books will cover the relative treatment of earth and 
its growing products. 



Boston 

"We are thorough- 
ly alive ... to the 
tremendous import- 
ance of Burbank's 
work, and can foresee 
the keen interest with 
which an account of 
it . . . will be re- 
ceived by the public. ' ' 

Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
Publishers. 



Appreciation 



"No one can tell to what ends of profit his 
enterprises may attain. They seem to have the 
world for their field, and the people of the world 
know him as perhaps they do not know any other 
single man on the planet. Any one with a grain 
of business sense can see what a world-beating 
commercial advantage adheres to his proposition.'* 

— E. J. Wickson, Dean Agricultural University of 
California and Director Experiment Stations. 



Asia 

"There are many 
who know this great 
man's(Burbank)name 
and work, and wish 
to get his wonderful 
books in Japan. ' ' 

—J. Ikeda & Co., 
Seed Growers and Nur- 
serymen, Tokio, Japan 



37 



The Motive — Luther Burbank — Continued. 



facts in a plain, matter-of-fact way which will be un- 
derstood by everybody, and especially by the young, 
in whom I now see a greater interest in nature studies 
and farm-life than ever before. 

"New creations in plant-life will not only produce 
^ renewed interest in agricultural and horticultural 
matters, and in all outdoor life, but they will make it 
possible to produce far greater results with the same 
amount of labor and capital. The cost of producing 
a good fruit, nut, or grain, is usually the difference 
between failure and success. A life in the open air 
among plants, near to Nature's heart, gives one health 
and self-respect, as well as physical endurance and 
mental integrity — for the highest intellectual advance- 
ment can be combined with the occupations of the 
soil. 

"Men and women past middle age can convert labor 
into pastime or recreation, and add a new zest to living 
by devoting themselves in a small way to experiments 
in the improvement of plants. Here one always finds 
something new, something unexpected, and changes 
of extreme interest are always sure to occur when 
experiments are conducted in the right way. 

"Many have supposed that the results desired could 
be produced by the mere act of crossing; but all the 
good that crossing accomplishes in the first genera- 
tion is to blend the desirable qualities possessed by 
two dift'erent plants so as to combine them in one 
plant — and even this result can rarely be accomplished. 

"The real object of crossing is the combination of 
the qualities of two plants, for in the individual plants 
produced from their seeds in the following generations, 
their several habits, character and qualities reappear 
in varying proportions ; and as every plant has almost 
infinite tendencies in every direction, when these ten- 
dencies segregate — as they do in the second and suc- 



38 





The Motive— Luther Burbank— Continued. 



W 



^ 



ceeding generations after a cross has been made (except 
in rare cases, which will be mentioned later) — and 
again rearrange themselves, absolutely new forms ap- 
pear, such as were never before in existence. By select- 
ing those coming nearest to the ideal desired and re- 
planting their seeds only, we get still other variation^ 
even more closely approaching the ideal. Some one 
individual in this last generation is almost certain to 
possess the desired characteristics, developed to a still 
higher degree than in any of the individuals of the 
first generation. Thus by the continuation of this 
process, after first hybridizing to produce these varia- 
tions, constant improvement can be obtained from 
generation to generation as the work proceeds; for 
by selection we have in our hands the power to elimi- 
nate any tendency or quality that we do not wish to 
perpetuate in the ideal plant, and to add any quality 
or tendency that we desire to preserve. Therefore we 
have in our own hands the power of making literal 
"New Creations" in plant life. This is sufficiently illus- 
trated in most of our cultivated fruits, flowers, veg- 
etables and grains, that once were far less nutritious 
and productive than now, and many of them once were 
utterly worthless, or even poisonous weeds. 

"What has been already accomplished is but the 
beginning of horticultural achievements that will sur- 
pass the most sanguine expectations of even a decade 
ago. 

"New fruits, nuts, grains, vegetables, coffee, tea, 
spice — rubber, oil, paper, and perfume plants — such as 
man has never yet seen — will be produced in greatly 
superior forms with the precision achieved by the 
artist, chemist or mechanic. Does this mean — do you 
ask — anything for the human race? Yes, in the hands 
of the plant-breeder rests the future destiny of all 
mankind. 



^a? 



39 



JJS5C, 




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One copy del. to Cat. Div, 



MAH 3 1 9 1 1 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



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